Nvidia includes Cisco in Spectrum-X reference architecture

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Cisco and Nvidia have expanded their partnership in the field of AI infrastructure. With Cisco, the GPU manufacturer has included third-party providers in its Spectrum-X reference architecture for AI networks for the first time. Cisco is also planning to port NX-OS, its network operating system for data centers, to the hardware platforms of Nvidia switches. In the future, it should also be possible to manage and monitor them via the Nexus dashboard.

Nvidia and Cisco previously without a joint product

As recently as July 2024, Cisco announced a far-reaching partnership with Nvidia at its in-house exhibition in Las Vegas. Under the title HyperFabric AI Cluster, the two companies are cooperating in the field of plug & play AI infrastructures. Although the complete Nvidia software stack was listed on Cisco's global price list, the cooperation has not yet resulted in finished products.

Until now, Spectrum-X for Ethernet-based AI networks was only designed for hardware and software from Nvidia. Other manufacturers were left out. According to the company, the Cisco Silicon One ASIC family with Nvidia BlueField 3 SuperNICs will be integrated into the Spectrum-X Ethernet network platform. Specifically, Cisco would like to include switches from the Nexus 9000 series with 400G and 800G ports in the reference architecture.

Such high bandwidths and low latencies are required for the AI training clusters in backend networks with RDMA over Converged Ethernet (RoCE). The correct coordination of the individual components also plays a key role here. This should be provided by the reference architecture and the inclusion in Cisco's validated designs. The company is to provide the corresponding optics for 400G and 800G ports.

Integration should relieve the burden on AI developers

Nvidia only acquired switch manufacturer Mellanox in 2020. Their platform was therefore in direct competition with the Nexus platforms for data centers. In addition, Nvidia's switches could be operated with the open operating systems Cumulus Linux and SONiC. Cisco is now planning to port NX-OS to Nvidia's Spectrum switching hardware.

The integration of Cisco Silicon One into the Spectrum-X platform will provide companies with a standardized architecture for AI workloads. It is intended to offer coordinated interoperability so that AI developers can focus on content implementation.

Manufacturers move away from Infiniband

The HyperFabric AI Cluster is not yet available. Nevertheless, the cooperation demonstrates the efforts of large companies in the UltraEthernet consortium to move away from Infiniband and towards Ethernet. This paves the way for additional manufacturers of Ethernet-based products for AI networks.

Due to its AI strategy, the cooperation with Nvidia seems logical for Cisco. However, the company has recently lost market share to its competitor Arista in high-speed switches for data centers, which are required for AI networks. It therefore remains to be seen whether Cisco can boost its sales with the new partnership. Large AI players such as Meta recently built their Ethernet AI networks with Arista switches.

(mack)